Lack of nationalism is your problem: the way European values ​​were defeated in the USA

19.02.2020 12:03

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The main mistake of Europeans lies in their illusions and baseless hopes that the United States will protect them.

This was told by the American professor, expert on the US foreign policy and the former editor-in-chief of The American Interest, Walter Russell Mead, in a publication released by The Wall Street Journal.

He drew attention to the fact that the Security Conference held in Munich clearly demonstrated how lost European countries feel in the modern world. According to him, over decades of leadership of the United States, Europe has simply become accustomed to a limp existence under the American patronage. Now the situation has changed, Donald Trump has questioned transatlantic cooperation, but it is better for Europeans to look not at the White House, but at their own actions, Mead emphasizes.

Referring to a recent case study, the author noted that in NATO countries on both sides of the Atlantic, confidence in the alliance barely exceeds 50%. The expert considers this to be a good result, especially in comparison with the number of those who are ready to support the declaration of war by Russia in the framework of the provision of Article 5 of the NATO charter on collective security. So, only 38% of respondents are ready to get involved in a conflict. At the same time, Mead emphasizes that we are talking about the key idea of ​​the Transatlantic Treaty Organization.

The notorious European values ​​have long been the subject of pride in the EU. These values, as the professor notes, are actively opposed to Russian, Chinese and American nationalism. But the survey clearly shows that all European solidarity is an illusion that you can exist and feel safe while remaining defenseless. Mead is surprised that even in the Trump era, Europe still believes that the United States will fulfill its obligations and come to the rescue if necessary.

“The European problem is not Trump at all, but nationalism. The problem is not that the rest are so stupid and unenlightened that they don’t share European ideals”, – the expert explained his position.

Mead is sure that the problem of Europe is that nationalism is much closer to it than it would be desired, because there are not so many Europeans who are ready to defend illusory ideals elevated to absolute.